One in Infinity
by Ian Reid
Summary: A mysterious person has come to A. Nigma High and they're targeting Tina. On top of that, Lee is incapacitated by a severe splitting headache and he doesn't know if he'll be able to save Tina in time!
1. Prologue

Prologue

There was a certain sting in the warming spring air as a breeze swept the city. To its east, a small stream straying from the main river flowed southward away from the mountains. This was a choice made several centuries before, and one that kept the world on its course. On another world, the choice was different, to some varying degree either minutely miniscule or vastly obvious. But this stream was deemed nothing special. Further southward, the stream eventually joined its parent river again. Aside from the spring breeze plucking stray leaves from the bare tree branches forsaken by the previous autumn, all was still.

A hand breached the stream's surface, clawing the air and for a purchasable hold. A head followed after the hand's arm, sucking in a gasping, sputtering breath and filling his lungs with fresh, sweet air. He cut across the stream's current for shore, grabbing a low-hanging branch and pulling himself up the steep incline. He was soaked through and through, his midnight black dyed crimson hair clinging wet to his face. He remained motionless in an attempt to regain what strength he could, before climbing up the rest of the incline to a dirt road. He looked to his left forearm, unfolding the small computer attached to his jacket sleeve and typed a command on the touch screen. The map updated itself after a few minutes processing, before displaying an error that made him grimace.

"Note to self," he muttered, "Slap Biffy for miscalculating the coordinates." He straightened, his grey eyes looking along the road as a pick-up truck approached and slowed, rolling down the passenger-side window. The driver was of medium build, dressed in farming attire.  
"Hey kid, what's with you?" the driver asked, "you alright? You're soaked."  
"Just fell off the bridge upstream," the boy answered. After a moment's consideration, he decided to follow up with, "Hey, where am I, exactly?"  
"You're on the outskirts o' Wurston," the driver responded, "West of Mansfield and east of Finnwich Town. Hop in, I'm heading into town, you can call your folks or whatever, eh?" Wurston? Damn, he wasn't too far off, after all. Biffy really lucked out on this one. The boy considered this may be beneficial to completing his mission. The specified coordinates were in town. Not to mention, _that_ as well. He needed to be sure. It was the only way.  
"OK, thanks," the boy answered, "Say, are there any schools in town?"  
"Oh yeah, A Nigma," the driver replied as his new passenger hopped into the truck's bed. "Say, what's your name?"

Author's Commentary: I'm glad how this prologue started out. It's probably the closest to my original vision for this story as it gets. I wanted to reveal who the mystery character was in this story, but decided to build the suspense as to who it is, though I think it's fairly obvious given my description. After that, thought, I liked how this prologue started out.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Lee Ping yawned tiredly as the bus ride slowed to a halt. He didn't have a good night's rest previously. Aside from homework, detention, having a seemingly strained relationship with Tina Kwee, and facing possible world-ending problems on a monthly basis, he wasn't looking too good. And now he had a massive headache. The bus lurched to a stop letting on other passengers, who, for the moment, made Lee forget all about his pains. Cam and Holger stepped onto the bus, taking seats flanking Lee.

"Yo, Lee!" said Cam glad to see his friend.  
"Hey Cam," Lee replied plainly. The Latino and Vikinglannish pair exchanged glances to one another before again focusing on their mutual friend.  
"Somethin' wrong?" Cam asked. "You're still hurting after that fight with Tina last weekend, dude?" Lee grunted.  
"I feel like someone stuffed a bowling ball behind my right eye-socket," he answered with a pained groan.  
"Oooh!" Holger let out a delighted coo, "Holger loves the bowling of balls! Especially when they make lots of pins go ker-fluufershuup!"  
"Totally not what Lee's talking about, esé," Cam said. "You don't look too good, man. Your mom's a teacher, she could totally call you in sick or something." Lee looked up from cradling his temple to his best friend.  
"That's just the problem, though," said Lee, "I was feeling perfectly fine just this morning, the headache, the buzzing, all of it, just started not forty minutes ago."  
"Perhaps the Lee of Ping has had too many thoughts of Tina and doesn't want to show off the delicious love-cake?" Holger suggested in that weird way his friends have accepted as his odd way of communicating.  
"Holger, Tina and I are just on break for the time being," Lee finally clarified, "We'll be back together soon enough."  
"Soon as both of you apologize to one another," Cam muttered under his breath. Lee sighed again, miserable from the headache and his aching body. The bus crawled to a halt, letting on another passenger.

Tina.

She let her hair hang a little longer past her shoulders. Her build had improved over the winter, result of running for her life with Lee from unspeakable horrors. She searched the bus for an empty seat. Lee looked up and locked eyes with her for a long, perilous moment. She acknowledged his presence regardless, but found a place near the front and sat down without a second glance his way. Lee looked down dejected, the headache not improving his current overall misery. Cam clapped Lee's shoulder in assurance.  
"You'll get her to understand, bro, you can do it," he comforted.  
"Thanks, Cam," Lee said finally.

The bus stop wasn't too far from A. Nigma High School. Lee, Cam and Holger got off the bus, and walked the rest of the way, despite the fresh city air not making much improvement of his situation.  
"I think I'm just gonna head to the nurse, get some aspirin," said Lee as he set foot on the school grounds.  
"'S cool, man, you do that," Cam said before departing to his class.  
Lee cradled his aching temple with a hand as he walked the emptying halls to the nurse's office. He quickly glimpsed Tina in the hall; her face was tear-streaked, and red from blushing. Comforting her, Lee was thankful to see, was Jenny Jerkins. That at least put some ease on his mind they were still friends. Lee felt comfort in seeing the two, and wished he was there with Tina. His head continued throbbing and he started again down the hall to the nurse's.

"A headache, huh?" the nurse asked Lee as he took a seat. "What's the occasion? Didn't study for a test?" Lee didn't welcome the cynicism.  
"Started on the way to school," Lee answered. "Just out of nowhere."  
"Right," the nurse teased, "that's the point you realized you didn't study."  
"I studied plenty," Lee snapped irritated. "Can I just… have some aspirin or something and get to class?" The nurse filled a small cup with water and handed over a few tablets to him. He swallowed them and followed it up with the water.  
"Come back next break if it doesn't start working," the nurse said. Lee got up, accepting the written pass back to class. What caught his eye on the way out stopped him in his tracks. The hulking barrel-chested landmass that was Biffy Goldstein sat in a corner nursing bruised knuckles with an ice pack.  
The two regarded one another momentarily, and silently agreed this meeting to be one of coincidence. Lee didn't bother to ask, he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

The rest of the day continued on as it did. Lunch rolled by and the silence of the detention room was a comfort, if only briefly, for his continuously pounding headache. He sighed again, taking the spare time to write something in his notebook.

_Dear Tina…  
_No, that sounds too plain…  
_Dearest Tina…  
_No, too formal…  
_My beloved Tina…  
_Too flowery… What about...

Author's Commentary: Starting this chapter was tricky. Most of what goes on and a lot of the dialogue exposition seemed to write itself, and before I knew it, it was an idea that I couldn't say no to. I liked this plot set-up, and I wanted to move on after whatever happens after the season finale. Straining Lee and Tina's relationship for the story to work felt right to do, even though I'm a hard-core Lee/Tina shipper, I want nothing more than to have them have a happy ending. And yes, Lee's headache has plot significance that will have some explanation in a latter chapter.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Tina Kwee reported the news with hardly the enthusiasm she usually had. Chaz's mocking and taunting about it was predictable, but it wasn't anything he hadn't said before. In fact, at the worst of it she snapped at him on camera. She didn't care Barrage called her to the office afterward. She was too distracted with Lee on the bus earlier that morning. She talked with Jenny about it later and broke down. The distance between her and Lee was finally affecting her. She sulked down the halls after the first class after lunch.  
_No. Stop being so weak, Tina! You're better than this! Lee would come around and apologize, right?  
_Only if she did, too. The things said that day were hurtful for both parties. But she loved him!

A shadow loomed over her, and a body stood before her. She looked up at the worn, green shirt. The familiarity of this presence was too real. She looked further up the body, into the face. Those red bangs, that complexion…

Those glittering brilliant, silver-grey eyes…

"Lee?" her voice quivered. He moved wordlessly, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and held her. It felt so much like him. Oh god, it even _smelled_ like him!  
"I've missed you," he said in her ear. He let go, and brought his lips to hers. The warmth of his kiss, the suddenness of it all, those feelings when she missed having him around crashed like an avalanche in her heart. Tears trickled down her face again. The grip on her books loosened and they fell to the floor in a mess of paper.  
Yet as sudden as he appeared, as sudden as he kissed her, she was made aware of her surroundings once more, and she caught a fleeting glimpse of him dash around the corner ahead of her. She remained stunned in place, and her heart ached and longed again for that deep, intoxicating embrace. The barren, damning loneliness overwhelmed her again.

"Tina?"  
The voice behind her made her whirl around on her heel. That same shirt, those red bangs, the complexion…

Those sullen, pained dark-brown eyes with a hazel tinge…

The moment processed itself in her head.  
"How did…?" she asked, looking at the corner she faced, then back to Lee behind her.  
"You OK?" Lee asked. Tina furrowed her brows at him and fresh tears streamed to her chin.  
"No, I'm not OK, damn you!" she shouted. "You show up and kiss me from out of nowhere, and then sneak up behind me to pretend like it never happened? Damn you!" She pounded balled fists against his chest, turning away and running off without her things.  
"Damn you!" faded as she rushed down the hall.

Lee stood confused. "What just happened?" he asked.  
"Did she just say you kissed her?" Cam asked, having caught that much of her tirade.  
"How could I?" Lee responded. "I haven't been to see her all day."  
Holger gasped in shock. "Maybe the Lee of Ping has a clone to get revenge," he exclaimed. "He is believing he is the real Lee and trying to take the Tina to have the kissy time and love cake!" Lee's headache throbbed. Holger's reasoning seemed to make it worse. Lee looked down at the mess of books and papers left behind. Lee kneeled down, reorganizing everything the way she liked it (something he learned about her), and for a moment, thought about slipping the note he wrote during lunch detention…  
Lee straightened, handing everything over to Cam. "Can you make sure Tina gets these at her next class, Cam?" he asked. Cam grunted at the heft and cursed in Spanish.  
"No problema, amigo," he said strained. He carried the stack awkwardly down the hallway and around the corner that Tina fled from them.  
"Holger isn't so sure about Cam," Holger said concerned.  
"He'll be fine," said Lee, cringing at the wracking pain of his headache. He clutched at his temple with a hand, leaning into the lockers beside him. That was the last thing he remembered before passing out.

Author's Commentary: Ahhh, this chapter. I loved writing this chapter. If you're confused as to who is the real Lee, the eyes are a pretty obvious clue. I had to rewatch the episode Double-Date to make sure it was accurate. I really enjoyed writing Tina in this chapter, I couldn't have asked for a better scene than that, honestly, it took about two rewrites and in the end I just loved how it turned out. Probably one of my favorite scenes in this story.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3

"Lee! Wake up already, would ya?"

Lee's eyes focused, blinded momentarily by the lights overhead. Two faces hovered over him, blurry at first, but his vision cleared. One was the nurse, who seemed relieved he was waking up. The other face was one he couldn't have been gladder to see, other than Tina's.  
"Biffy?"  
Biffy sighed relieved. "Oh good, welcome back to the waking world," he said. He offered a hand to help Lee sit up. He accepted, the nurse stood on his other side keeping him steady.

"What happened?" he asked groggily.  
"Blondie said you blacked out," said Biffy. "He had to drag you to the nurse's office."

"Where is he?" a panicked Sue Ping shouted, charging through the office to Lee's side. "Lee! Are you alright? You should tell your mother you're not feeling well!"  
_Not that you'd believe me when I _would _tell you,_ Lee thought to himself.  
"Second time to visit me, Ping," said the nurse. "Is there anything you can't do to get out of class?"  
Lee rolled his eyes. "Can I just have some more aspirin and water?" he asked.  
"Whatever for?" Sue asked.  
"I have to get to class."  
"You've been excused for the day," his mother replied. "I take you home now, where you rest." Lee moved off the bed.  
"I'm fine, mom," he insisted.  
A new wave of agony crashed against his skull. His legs gave out under him, and Biffy caught him before he hit the floor.

"I'd listen if I were you, Lee," said Biffy. "Maybe you should get a day off."  
"But Tina…" Lee started.  
"Will still be around when you get back," Biffy finished. "I'll look after her for you."  
Lee reached into his pocket, pulling out the note he wrote and stuffed it into Biffy's vest.  
"Get that to her, OK?" he asked.  
"Don't worry," Biffy said assuredly. Lee righted himself, decidedly accepting his mother's offer to drive him home.

"You get lots of rest now, understand?"  
Mrs. Ping looked into the bedroom while he lay prone on his bed.  
"Got it, mom," said Lee. His headache began to clear, yet it still buzzed.  
"Let your brother know if you need anything," she added. "I'll be home late. Big meeting at school."  
"Alright, mom," said Lee.

His brother was home. The mix of sulfur and cologne was unmistakable. Any other day, Lee would go to blows with his older brother; it was a training regimen to prepare the other for any unexpected event. It was one of the things, Lee discreetly admitted, he liked having an older sibling for. Lee was actually glad to find his older brother was around. He felt less like an only child. Simultaneously, Serpent liked having Lee around; sometimes to torture, sometimes lend advice or battle experience.

The two battled as enemies once, but family ties demanded they reconcile and become allies.

Serpent loomed over Lee's bed almost menacingly. Lee rolled his shoulder to the side to avoid a thrust. Lee retaliated with a punch easily blocked. Serpent pulled his younger sibling from the bed, forcing him to his feet. Lee's hand reflexively pushed oncoming blows away from his body until he could get an opening. Serpent made an easy mistake and Lee arm-thrust him squarely in the chest. Serpent stepped back, bracing for the retaliation. Lee's fist stopped inches from his face, a rush of air blowing past him.  
"Good, little brother!" Serpent praised. "That's one move less than last time." Lee sighed, sitting back down on his bed.  
"Yeah, big improvement," Lee said with sarcasm. Serpent cocked an eyebrow at the joyless disposition.  
"Something on your mind, Lee?" he asked pulling up the chair at Lee's desk. Lee looked over at his brother.  
"It's just…" he trailed off, lost in thought still about earlier.  
"Tina?" Serpent made a wild, yet correct, guess. "Is all over your face. You still think about her." Lee sighed. He nodded almost in shame about his inability to hide the fact.  
"I really screwed up with her, bro," he said somberly.  
Serpent leaned in eager to learn about the incident. "What happened?" he asked.

The moment itself was wrapped in a whirlwind; the moment came to him in fragments, bits and pieces seemingly shut out or omitted by the trauma of the whole fiasco. Yet best as he could piece it all together, there were other moments, sensations really, where things happened he didn't remember.  
"I was taking her to the movies," Lee explained after a moment's contemplation, "We finally had time to go out on an actual date and I took her to see The Summer of the Lone Wolf."  
"That was a good movie," Serpent put in. "The critics don't know what they're missing." Lee nodded in agreement, but went on.  
"Anyway, after we left the theater," Lee continued, "One of the Glamazons saw us together and said something about us. Tina got mad at me for taking it like a compliment and we argued about it."  
"What did you say to her?" Serpent asked, genuinely curious and concerned for his brother. Lee shrugged and shook his head.

"I don't remember," he replied. He closed his eyes, thinking back to what was said, but all he heard in his mind sounded like a radio without reception. "But you want to know what's really weird? I can see, vividly, Tina dying in my arms. It was some… explosion… at school." Lee looked up at Serpent, concern expressed clearly on his face.  
"But Tina's not dead," Serpent said. Lee nodded at the obvious statement.  
"Yet I remember it happening," Lee said.  
Serpent whistled. "That is weird," he agreed.

He staggered a moment against the lockers. He cradled his aching temple with a hand, closing his eyes to block out the pain, and the memories. They were almost exact to what he remembered, but they weren't. There were small variables, but the minute details of them were nearly indistinct to what he truly remembered.  
"Damn feedback," he muttered. "He's already in my head, now." He took a few steps forward and bent over the nearby water fountain. The cool, fresh water passed his lips and soothed his headache, though the relief was temporary. He righted himself, feeling better and looked around the hallway. It was empty. He flipped open the small computer on his sleeve and tapped a command into the touch screen. The generated map of the school zoomed in on his target. He closed the computer and continued his mission. He wasn't far off, now.

Author's Commentary: I wanted this chapter to be longer. But I couldn't think of any way to keep it going. The last few chapters felt too short to me and I thought if I could stretch the next chapter to a decent length it would be OK. But I couldn't come up with anything to pad out the chapter any longer. I guess working on this one, I really had to get a lot of things straight for the whole story to come together. Lee's headache has significance, I said that last chapter and here it's a little clearer, but not completely. Writing that in was tricky, but overall I liked how it worked. Also, I was really hesitant about having Serpent in this story, is for nothing else as a vehicle to further the plot and get more exposition out of Lee. I didn't want the Serpent in the story originally, and was afraid it would distract from the plot but I think it might work out for the most part.


End file.
